Chapter 3

Chapter Three

“ Y ou are going to marry Rosalie, I presume?”

Nathan had been brooding over a glass of whiskey when James’ voice interrupted his thoughts. He looked up from the wingback chair where he had been contemplating everything that had gone wrong in the last twenty-four hours and saw his cousin standing over him, a severe look on his face.

“Not so much as a hello?” Nathan asked, raising an eyebrow. “Or has my reputation already fallen so low that I am not even accorded that customary greeting?”

“Your reputation is admittedly low,” James said as he seated himself across from Nathan and motioned for a waiter to bring him a drink as well. “But I will confess that it has grown even lower in my estimation since I discovered what it is you have done.”

“What I have done?” Nathan looked up sharply at his cousin. “You don’t believe I actually did anything to dishonor Miss Crampton, do you?”

James gave him a steely look. “No, I don’t think that. But I must admit, I wasn’t as shocked as I should have been when Violet told me what happened.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Nathan asked furiously. Of all the people he would have expected to presume his innocence, his cousin was the one he was sure he could count on.

James, however, didn’t look apologetic as he stared at him from across the coffee table. They were at White’s, the one place where Nathan had always been able to go for peace, quiet, and neutral place to think; now, even this one sanctuary was being taken from him, thanks to his cousin’s suspicions.

“It means that you have not been yourself for these past two years. You know it; I know it; everyone in the ton knows it. Your character has altered so much since Ethan’s death that I hardly know you anymore. Perhaps the Nathan you are now is capable of what it is you’re accused of.”

“What are you talking about?” Nathan set his glass down hard on the table in front of him. “I haven’t changed!”

“You have,” James snapped. “You have become cold, distant, and cruel over these past two years. While I don’t believe half the rumors I read in the gossip sheets, I also cannot deny that you seem capable of things now that I never would have dreamed of before. And you seem to thrive on playing up this Beast of Carramere nonsense! If I didn’t know better, I’d almost think you enjoyed this new reputation!”

“You know I don’t enjoy it. It was my father’s nickname. It sickens me that the same epithet is now applied to me.”

“And yet, you do not act as if it sickens you.”

“I don’t desire a lecture right now,” Nathan snarled, turning away. There was too much truth to what his cousin was saying for his comfort. He knew he had changed over the last two years, but he hated to be reminded of it, especially by someone who knew him as well as James knew him. “Anyway, you are in no position to lecture me. Until very recently, you yourself were considered a devilish villain.”

“I hung up that title a long time ago,” James said dismissively. “But I am ready to resurrect it if you need encouragement to do the right thing.”

It took Nathan a moment to realize what James was saying. Then his face flushed, and anger seized him.

“Are you threatening me?” he murmured.

James gave him a long, cool stare. “Miss Crampton is my wife’s sister. Her cousin is far too lily-livered to call you out which leaves me, and if I have to duel you in order to protect my sister-in-law’s honor then I will. Mind you, I’ll take no pleasure in it, and I’ll most certainly be felled—you were always the better marksman—but I will do what I must to defend my family.”

“ I’m your family,” Nathan said incredulously. “Don’t I deserve your protection as well?”

“Be reasonable, Nathan,” James said. The waiter brought his glass of whiskey, and he paused for a moment to take a sip before speaking again. “You know that I have no choice in the matter. This was my wife’s sister that you dishonored.”

“I didn’t dishonor her!”

“Well, it was my wife’s sister whom you put in a position that was dishonorable. I don’t have a choice.”

“I can’t believe you would call me out,” Nathan said. His mouth was very dry, and his heart was hammering. “You are my closest friend in the world. You’re more than a cousin to me—you’re a brother. And now you’re threatening to call me out? To kill me?”

Something flickered in James’s eyes, and Nathan realized that his cousin was trying very hard to keep his emotions in check. The cold veneer that he had on the outside was masking turbulent emotions on the inside.

And it was this that finally calmed him.

He leaned back in his chair and drank down the rest of his whiskey in one gulp. “Well, I suppose if I were in your position, I would do the same thing. But you have nothing to fear, James: I had already resolved to marry the girl.”

James blinked, and a look of relief came over him. “You had? Really?”

Nathan snorted. “Of course, I had. Despite what you might think, I have not changed so much in two years. I wouldn’t leave the girl to face ruin after what happened.”

“But… you didn’t offer for her at the time.”

“I was in shock! The whole of your house nearly missed being burned down!”

James sat back in his chair and ran a hand through his hair. “Well, I must say I’m relieved. Violet was in hysterics last night. I’ve never seen her like that. She’s usually so calm. I think she’s exhausted by all the scandal that keeps following her family.”

“Did she put you up to this?” Nathan asked.

“Of course not!” James looked affronted by the question. “She would murder me herself if she knew I was calling you out and putting both our lives at risk.”

“Well then, I’m glad one of you is reasonable.”

James looked at him hard. “Are you truly upset with me?”

Nathan didn’t answer. He stood, dusted off the front of his breeches, and reached for his jacket.

“Nathan.” James spoke again, more urgently, “is this going to lead to a rift between us?”

“Maybe it wouldn’t have with the cousin you used to know,” Nathan said darkly, “but you’re right: I’ve changed. And now, I hold grudges.”

He didn’t look back as he stormed from White’s.

“First my hasty marriage to Eavestone, then Father’s arrest, then his escape from prison, then Violet’s marriage to the Devilish Duke, then her being kidnapped twice… and now this?! When will our family stop attracting scandal of every kind!”

Iris threw herself down on the couch of Violet’s sitting room and buried her face in her hands. “It’s insupportable!” she cried, her words muffled now by her hands. “We will never be free of it!”

“Don’t be so despairing,” Violet said from where she sat calmly embroidering on the couch across from Iris. “Everything else has worked out so far. You and I fell in love with our husbands, despite their less-than-savory reputations, Father is back in prison, and James managed to save me both times I was kidnapped.” Violet laughed. “It is rather dramatic when I put it like that, but my point is: this will work out as well. Things have a way of shaking out.”

“But the scandal it will cause!” Iris lamented, looking up at Violet. “If the Duke doesn’t propose, Rosalie will be ruined!”

Rosalie was sitting by the window in a hard-backed chair, staring outside at the drizzle, half-listening to her sisters, half preoccupied by worry. At the mention of her name, however, she turned around and watched her sisters as they debated her fate as if she wasn’t present.

I have barely spoken for the last twenty-four hours. Maybe they’ve actually forgotten I’m here. It wouldn’t be the first time.

“We have weathered scandal before,” Violet said, still speaking soothingly to Iris. “And we are both duchesses, married to two of the most powerful dukes in England. If that doesn’t help insulate Rosalie from the worst of the scandal, then I don’t know what will.”

“Marriage to the Duke will!” Iris said shrilly. “But he didn’t propose! Where is he? Can’t you ask James? Can’t James make him offer for Rosalie?”

“Just because they’re cousins doesn’t mean James can tell Nathan what to do,” Rosalie argued, frowning at her sister.

Both sisters lapped into silence so that all Rosalie could hear were the raindrops landing on the windowpane and the rapid beating of her own heart.

“How could this happen?” she said at last, her voice barely above a whisper.

Both her sisters started and looked over at her. “Rosalie, are you all right?” Iris asked anxiously, standing and going to her.

Rosalie stared at her sister with wide eyes. “I don’t understand how this happened,” she repeated. “All I wanted was to marry a good man, a kind man, a man as opposite from father as possible. And even with all the scandal attached to our family, I could keep my head high and hold out hope for that man. Someone who could look past the sins of my father and everything unfortunate that has happened to us. But now… I will be ruined. No one could look past me being found alone, and in such a vulnerable position, with the Beast of Carramere.” Her eyes filled with tears. “No one will want me now.”

“Oh Rosalie…” Iris knelt down in front of her and took her hands in hers. “I am sure that he will do the honorable thing and offer for you. He is a duke, after all. He will not resign you to this fate.”

All of a sudden, anger erupted inside Rosalie’s chest. She knew Iris was only trying to console her, that she only wanted the best for her, but she could no longer stand having her life dictated to her by other people, especially men. All her life, her father had dictated to her; now, she was supposed to let the Duke of Carramere dictate her fate?!

“I don’t want to marry him!” she shouted, snatching her hands away from her sister and standing up. She glared at both Iris and Violet, who was watching all of this unfold with a frustratingly calm expression. “I don’t even know him! I don’t want to marry a stranger—and worse, a stranger with a reputation for cruelty!”

She moved restlessly to the window and looked out of it. The day was as gray and cold as the pavement outside, and she felt an overwhelming sense of despair fill her up.

“Is this all I deserve?” she asked without turning. “A man known far and wide as a beast? Is it my punishment for falling for Mr. Cain when he was only trying to manipulate and use me?”

“Of course not!” Iris began, but Rosalie cut her off.

“Then tell me what else I have done wrong to deserve such a terrible choice for a husband!”

“Ahem.” The sound of someone clearing their throat made Rosalie gasp in surprise and shock, and she whipped around. Her sisters also turned at the sound of the intruder, and their expressions seemed to mirror her own as the three of them took in the Duke of Carramere, standing in the doorway, a bouquet of flowers in his hands.

Rosalie felt herself go red at once. How much of that did he hear? She was mortified at the idea of him having heard her cruel words—which, admittedly, made her look worse than him.

Violet was the first to recover. “Your Grace,” she said, standing, smoothing her skirts, and crossing to him. He kissed her hand and bowed over it although his movements seemed a bit stiff. Once he’d released her hand, he looked at Rosalie.

“I came to speak with Miss Rosalie,” he said, his tone rigid and cold. “But if the prospect of speaking to me is too beastly… well then, I understand.”

Ahh . Rosalie’s heart sank. So, he heard everything.

“Your Grace, I’m sorry you overheard that,” she began quickly. “I didn’t me?—”

“Never mind now,” he said, and to her shock, he tossed the bouquet onto an end table with more force than she would have expected. The petals ripped off several and floated miserably to the ground. “Miss Rosalie, may I speak with you?”

His expression was dark and foreboding, and she felt the dread build inside her. Well, any chance I had for a proposal is gone now.

“Surely anything you can say to our sister you can say in front of us!” Iris began indignantly, but Violet gave her sister a warning look.

“Of course, Your Grace,” she said. “We will just be in the next room.”

She stood, and after a moment, Iris reluctantly followed. As she disappeared through the door, Violet glanced back and gave Rosalie a small smile that she knew was meant to be encouraging. But as the door closed, Rosalie didn’t feel encouraged; she felt as if her sisters were closing the door of her cage.

“I am sorry about what I said,” Rosalie said into the silence before the Duke could say anything else. “It’s not like me to believe rumors about someone.”

The Duke gave her a skeptical look. “I have never not seen you without your nose in a book, Miss Crampton, which makes me doubt that you are not also an avid reader of the gossip columns.”

Rosalie flushed. She was both annoyed and a little touched that he could make such an astute observation about her. She was an avid reader of the scandal sheets.

“Well, I still shouldn’t have said it,” Rosalie said. “It was unkind.” Then her eyes narrowed. “But you also are being unkind, not to offer for me. You are condemning me to ruination.”

“Both our reputations are on the line,” the Duke snapped then hesitated. “Although I admit, it is harder for a woman to recover her reputation. And mine is already clouded by scandal.”

She didn’t say anything to this. To disagree would just be lying.

“However,” he continued more slowly, “as I understand it, you do not wish for me to offer for you.” His amber eyes met hers, and she was shocked by how much they still glinted the color of flames, even without fire nearby. “You do not wish to marry me.”

Again, she could not disagree with this without lying, so she said nothing.

The Duke laughed softly as he took in her reticent silence then crossed to the sideboard near the pianoforte. He opened it and took out a bottle of brandy. Uncorking it, he sniffed at it, smiled appreciatively, and then poured himself a glass which he drank down in one large gulp.

“Ahhh,” he approved as he set the glass back on the counter. “James did always have excellent taste in brandy.”

He turned back to look at her, and Rosalie felt, once more, the strange sensation of fear that she’d felt yesterday: her heart began to beat faster, and she felt her palms and the back of her neck begin to sweat. At the same time, her stomach lurched uncomfortably.

There’s nothing to be afraid of , she reminded herself. He may be the Beast of Carramere, but Violet and Iris are right next door.

His eyes glittered as they took her in, and she became aware, again, of just how large he was: tall and athletic, broad-shouldered, and exuding a dark masculine energy with his hulking presence and roguish long black hair, not at all like the lithe, dandyish men of the ton .

“You do not wish to marry me,” he repeated. “However, it is the only realistic way forward.”

Rosalie felt a wave of shock go through her. After the way he’d acted yesterday, and how he’d discarded the bouquet, she hadn’t seen this coming. Before she could answer, however, he kept going.

“Both our reputations are at stake. I know that the ton loves to gossip about me as if I am a villainous rake, but I assure you, very little of what the gossip rags say is true. And I have certainly never taken liberties with a young woman. I would not like it said that I disrespected you, nor will I tolerate anything dishonorable being said about you. Which is why I am here, offering you marriage.”

Rosalie unstuck her throat. “But yesterday, you left the library so suddenly… I was sure you weren’t going to offer for me.”

“Things happened quickly yesterday,” he conceded, “and I was in shock. But I am here to do the right thing.”

The right thing. Why was the right thing so often the thing that made two people most miserable?

“That is very honorable,” she began slowly, “but there is still the small matter that we do not know one another. We cannot marry when we haven’t the faintest idea of whether or not we will be a suitable match!”

“I don’t want this either,” he said, and Rosalie felt as if she had been hit in the stomach. She tried to control her expression, but she clearly wasn’t successful because his expression softened as did his voice.

“You forget that it isn’t merely our reputations that are at stake,” he murmured. “You also have your sisters to think about, and I must consider my cousin. James has only just gotten his duchy back in order after his father turned it into a free-for-all for gangs to run dog-fighting rings and sell opium. We cannot compromise the reputation he has worked so hard to rebuild. And your sisters’ reputations…”

He trailed off, and a terrible weight seemed to settle over Rosalie’s shoulders. She knew he was right. And yet…

“I’ve spent my whole life reading romantic novels,” she whispered. “I wanted a love match.”

The Duke’s jaw set, and his voice became cold. “Well, as we discussed the other day: life isn’t a novel.”

It was exactly the kind of thing her father might have said to her. He, too, always used to chide her that she lived in a fantasy world born from too much reading. And hearing the Duke utter the words, she was overcome by a powerful sense of despair.

The last thing I wanted was to marry a man like Father, she thought bitterly.

“If this is not what you want, you only have to tell me,” the Duke said, and she looked up to see him watching her closely. “If you make it clear that you do not want to marry me, then I will not force anything, and I will never darken your doorstep again.”

This, at least, was very unlike her father, and Rosalie sucked in her breath. “Really?” she asked. “It’s my choice.”

“Of course, it is,” he snapped. “I’m not a monster.”

Her eyes widened, and he seemed to realize what he’d said because he scowled.

“Can I think about it?” she asked. “Have a day or two to sleep on it?”

His scowl deepened. “The longer you delay, the more the scandal will spread. There will be no point in us announcing an engagement in a week if our reputations are already ruined by then.”

She nodded. There was sense in that. The ton did not easily forgive or forget a scandal.

For a moment, however, she let herself think through all the options: marrying the Duke of Carramere, a man she feared and hardly knew but who at least was related to her sister’s husband which meant she would still see her sisters often and of course, escape scandal.

Or live with scandal and resign herself to the life of a spinster or worse, be forced to marry a man she hated out of desperation.

There was a time when Rosalie might have risked the life of a spinster, a time when her faith in love and in life working out like in a romance might have made her refuse the Duke.

But that time was long gone. Too many terrible things had happened since then. And she no longer had faith that love was waiting for her.

At last, she nodded, and then she let her head hang.

“You need to say it,” the Duke said sharply, and she forced herself to look back up at him. He took a step towards her, and the dark, masculine energy that radiated from him seemed to draw her in because she also took a step forward. It was frightening, she realized—the power he emanated.

“I need to hear you say that you’ll marry me,” he murmured.

“I will marry you,” she whispered, and for a second, his eyes seemed to blaze.

She couldn’t look away. Her heart was beating faster. She was now sweating under her armpits and behind her knees. She felt faint, light-headed, and?—

“Good,” he said, and the moment of intensity passed. Rosalie took a deep breath as she came back to herself. “Well. I will speak to your cousin in the morning.”

And without so much as a goodbye, he left.